This article is really interesting in conjunction with the other Ars article about how the US can't get gigabit connections because the lack of ISP competition means they can't be bothered to improve service.

This is my killer feature for the PS4, and I hope it all works out. I've played maybe 3-5 games on a playstation, being an xbox man, but there are so many games i've missed out on over the years, being able to go back and play now classic RPGs is a big deal for why i'm probably going to end up with a playstation. I can't think of any Twitch gameplay style Playstation games I've wanted to play, so latency is a minor issue for me.

Quote:

Sweet, I can't wait to re-buy all my PS3 games.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

What if an ISP was greedy enough to offer higher speeds to customers but EXCLUSIVELY for gaming. Ie. they sell you a faster connection, but throttle everything that isn't gaming (and market the gaming speed as some kind of "boost").

That way, ISP gets to roll out a profitable slightly higher-end product with minimal extra infrastructure investment and gamers get to game with Gakai-style streaming.

This could work well for turn-based games like JRPGs and X-Com. It will probably not be a great experience for playing shooters.

My thoughts as well. But for that subset of games, this is likely going to be pretty great. It is weird that the US, with all its broadband issues, is Sony's first region to release in. I'd want to do something like Japan or South Korea, some place with great network speeds and penetration.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

I find this defense strangely divorced from logic. What you're saying, essentially, is that the thing that you yourself label as a "killer feature" is no different than picking up a second-hand PS3 and buying those games? That way you don't even have to worry about latency, slow internet (or no internet). So why is this a "killer feature"?

Because, like everybody else, you want to simplify your life-- meaning being able to play those old games on the same box you play your new games on. So yes, being asked to pay for those same games is a hassle. The point being that it would be nice if Sony let you mail in your disc or something, and gave you access to the game automatically that way, or had some way of ensuring that people didn't have to pay twice.

Because while yes, a person with a PS3 can plug it in, the reality of the situation is that you can buy (or borrow) a PS3 as well, and play those same games you missed that way. So both you and the people who don't want to buy their games again want to have the convenience of playing all their games on the same box.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

To stream PS3 games you will need to own them digitally, which means if you purchased a disc it will not work, you will need to repurchase.

I guess I'm a weirdo who keeps all of my old consoles if I want to play old games on them? Yes, some sort of conversion program would be nice (mail in discs to get a downloadable copy/gaikai version, or put in the disc and you can buy the digital verison for a few bucks), but I hooked up my Snes the other day to replay LttP, so keeping the discs and consoles of my favorite games seems like a no-brainer, rather than re-buying all my games on the new shiny.

If this is the new concept behind backwards compatiblity, i will not use it, this is the worst of both worlds, i mean digital purchases and streming games, but as a business standpoint of view is brilliant, i hope consumers vote with their wallets

What if an ISP was greedy enough to offer higher speeds to customers but EXCLUSIVELY for gaming. Ie. they sell you a faster connection, but throttle everything that isn't gaming (and market the gaming speed as some kind of "boost").

That way, ISP gets to roll out a profitable slightly higher-end product with minimal extra infrastructure investment and gamers get to game with Gakai-style streaming.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

I find this defense strangely divorced from logic. What you're saying, essentially, is that the thing that you yourself label as a "killer feature" is no different than picking up a second-hand PS3 and buying those games? That way you don't even have to worry about latency, slow internet (or no internet). So why is this a "killer feature"?

Just making the point if you already own the games and the console, why would you re-buy them? Use the ones you have.

Buying a used PS3 isn't a zero cost. Factor in Gaikai can stream PS2 and PS1 games too, and then you're hundreds of dollars into hardware, let alone the difficulty of finding and cost of rare older games.

If you can flip a switch on a PS4 and turn on all that functionality, how is that not awesome? Some games require long term purchase and owning. Other games that are not twitch-critical and are worth playing through once (and only once) are great candidates for this service.

It seems to me that these new consoles are way more of a beta product than previous iterations. First adopters are a powerful consumer force to be exploited by the tech giants. It's an interesting phenomenon to say the least.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

To stream PS3 games you will need to own them digitally, which means if you purchased a disc it will not work, you will need to repurchase.

I guess I'm a weirdo who keeps all of my old consoles if I want to play old games on them? Yes, some sort of conversion program would be nice (mail in discs to get a downloadable copy/gaikai version, or put in the disc and you can buy the digital verison for a few bucks), but I hooked up my Snes the other day to replay LttP, so keeping the discs and consoles of my favorite games seems like a no-brainer, rather than re-buying all my games on the new shiny.

In Japan there was a service for this for your PSP games.

As for keeping old systems, that sounds good in practice, in reality its not so ideal. You either have to have your entire game and system collection already out and hooked up, which is a nightmare of cables and switch boxes (the more consoles you choose to keep, the worse this gets), and good luck storing all those games somewhere accessible (I am running out of room storing just this generations games, and had to give a few away). Or you have to constantly swap out boxes, and rummage around where you stored your games to grab the game you wanted to play, etc... Unless you have a gaming dedicated room (in which case you would probably do the former, and not care that its a mess) its not really viable for most people to keep multiple systems.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

To stream PS3 games you will need to own them digitally, which means if you purchased a disc it will not work, you will need to repurchase.

I guess I'm a weirdo who keeps all of my old consoles if I want to play old games on them? Yes, some sort of conversion program would be nice (mail in discs to get a downloadable copy/gaikai version, or put in the disc and you can buy the digital verison for a few bucks), but I hooked up my Snes the other day to replay LttP, so keeping the discs and consoles of my favorite games seems like a no-brainer, rather than re-buying all my games on the new shiny.

I keep all my games and old systems too, but I also have limited space (and connections) on my television area, so its a bit annoying to have to move/remove/disconnect/connect some system(s) to play a old game for a little bit.

If cloud gaming takes off with this, will that make this the last major console generation? If it turns out to be vastly popular, what's the point in making ever more robust systems when your limitation is going to be internet infrastructure? I could see a world where your blu-ray player comes with a PS4 app to go with your netflix.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

To stream PS3 games you will need to own them digitally, which means if you purchased a disc it will not work, you will need to repurchase.

I guess I'm a weirdo who keeps all of my old consoles if I want to play old games on them? Yes, some sort of conversion program would be nice (mail in discs to get a downloadable copy/gaikai version, or put in the disc and you can buy the digital verison for a few bucks), but I hooked up my Snes the other day to replay LttP, so keeping the discs and consoles of my favorite games seems like a no-brainer, rather than re-buying all my games on the new shiny.

You aren't reading. A big part of this feature is the ability to stream the games, something the PS3 doesn't do.

Even ignoring streaming, many adults like to consolidate hardware whenever possible. Having 3 or 4 consoles laying around takes up a lot of room and is a pain with all the associated wires. Is it possible? Sure. Is it a good solution? Not even close.The fact that you just hooked up your snes doesn't mean squat.

Basically, pay small subscription and have access to a massive back catalog of games. The Playstation Plus is kinda like that, where you pay $30-50 a year and get games each month ontop of that service, accept you have to download the whole game.

The failure of OnLive was that they tried to sell you a game on a per-title basis. The whole point of a cloud based streaming system is that you don't need to install or download the whole game.

If Sony could offer thousands of PS1, PS2, PS3, Vita, and even PS4 games for a cheap Netflix like subscription, this would be a killer app.

Basically, pay small subscription and have access to a massive back catalog of games. The Playstation Plus is kinda like that, where you pay $30-50 a year and get games each month ontop of that service, accept you have to download the whole game.

The failure of OnLive was that they tried to sell you a game on a per-title basis. The whole point of a cloud based streaming system is that you don't need to install or download the whole game.

If Sony could offer thousands of PS1, PS2, PS3, Vita, and even PS4 games for a cheap Netflix like subscription, this would be a killer app.

This was exactly the way that MSFT was heading (and hopefully still is) before the "small amount of internet crybabies" in conjunction with bad messaging forced them to largely change most of their online plans.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

To stream PS3 games you will need to own them digitally, which means if you purchased a disc it will not work, you will need to repurchase.

I guess I'm a weirdo who keeps all of my old consoles if I want to play old games on them? Yes, some sort of conversion program would be nice (mail in discs to get a downloadable copy/gaikai version, or put in the disc and you can buy the digital verison for a few bucks), but I hooked up my Snes the other day to replay LttP, so keeping the discs and consoles of my favorite games seems like a no-brainer, rather than re-buying all my games on the new shiny.

In Japan there was a service for this for your PSP games.

As for keeping old systems, that sounds good in practice, in reality its not so ideal. You either have to have your entire game and system collection already out and hooked up, which is a nightmare of cables and switch boxes (the more consoles you choose to keep, the worse this gets), and good luck storing all those games somewhere accessible (I am running out of room storing just this generations games, and had to give a few away). Or you have to constantly swap out boxes, and rummage around where you stored your games to grab the game you wanted to play, etc... Unless you have a gaming dedicated room (in which case you would probably do the former, and not care that its a mess) its not really viable for most people to keep multiple systems.

That being said its a far cry better than streaming.

+1

I have a tv stand big enough for a 70" TV, and I don't have room for more than 2 consoles in it. I doubt the average person has a stand this big. On lower shelf it has my HTPC, AVR, and PS3. The middle shelf has a large center speaker flanked by my XBO, DVR, cable modem/router. Top of stand where tv would go (have a projector) has the Kinect and that's it. Might not be so bad if consoles all used a standard power connector and Component or s-video (pre-HD consoles) and the only thing you had to switch was the console, but since they're all different, as you said, it's a switching nightmare. I've got the space to plug them in on my receiver, but not the shelf space and enough power sockets and i'm not a fan of daisy-chaining power bars.

If you can flip a switch on a PS4 and turn on all that functionality, how is that not awesome?

It IS awesome. I'm stoked for it myself. But the reality is that Sony hasn't yet provided any guide for how existing owners should be expect to be transitioned. If their purchases don't transfer, they might as well keep their PS3 around.

Look at Nintendo and the complications they introduced with having multiple stores that weren't compatible, and needing to transfer stuff between the Wii and WiiU. People want to buy once and get simplicity. If they don't offer an upgrade path, they are offering a worse alternative (buying a game you can only play when you have very good internet), asking you to pay for it, when you can stick with what you own.

In other words, it's great for people that didn't own a PS3, but not so great for people with large collections they'd prefer to digitize. It probably won't stop me from trying games I might not have gotten otherwise, but it will greatly slow down how likely I am to take advantage of this, and it certainly won't get me to buy new titles as readily.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea-- quite the opposite. Gaikai is SUCH a good idea that they should incentivize people to use it by allowing you to trade in your existing games for the Gaikai versions.

Kyle Orland wroteGaikai launched in 2008 as a platform to deliver Web-based streaming demos of high-end PC games that ran on many retailer websites. Sony spent $380 million to scoop up the company last year and has thus far used the underlying technology to power the surprisingly usable Remote Play functionality between the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita (as well as PS Vita TV streaming in Japan).

That's quite a speculative assertion don't you think? Remote Play has been available predating Gaikai's existence.

Basically, pay small subscription and have access to a massive back catalog of games. The Playstation Plus is kinda like that, where you pay $30-50 a year and get games each month ontop of that service, accept you have to download the whole game.

The failure of OnLive was that they tried to sell you a game on a per-title basis. The whole point of a cloud based streaming system is that you don't need to install or download the whole game.

If Sony could offer thousands of PS1, PS2, PS3, Vita, and even PS4 games for a cheap Netflix like subscription, this would be a killer app.

This was exactly the way that MSFT was heading (and hopefully still is) before the "small amount of internet crybabies" in conjunction with bad messaging forced them to largely change most of their online plans.

Kyle Orland wroteGaikai launched in 2008 as a platform to deliver Web-based streaming demos of high-end PC games that ran on many retailer websites. Sony spent $380 million to scoop up the company last year and has thus far used the underlying technology to power the surprisingly usable Remote Play functionality between the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita (as well as PS Vita TV streaming in Japan).

That's quite a speculative assertion don't you think? Remote Play has been available predating Gaikai's existence.

Gaikai tech and software powers the current PS Vita to PS4 remote play function, along with some dedicated video encoding/decoding hardware on both devices. Remote play between the PSP and PS3 was a nice idea but could not really be pulled off by the tech at hand. It was a beta, really. Kyle's description is factually accurate. Sony bought Gaikai outright because they realized they needed that kind of software to make RP actually work they way they'd hoped.

Kyle Orland wroteGaikai launched in 2008 as a platform to deliver Web-based streaming demos of high-end PC games that ran on many retailer websites. Sony spent $380 million to scoop up the company last year and has thus far used the underlying technology to power the surprisingly usable Remote Play functionality between the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita (as well as PS Vita TV streaming in Japan).

That's quite a speculative assertion don't you think? Remote Play has been available predating Gaikai's existence.

Basically, pay small subscription and have access to a massive back catalog of games. The Playstation Plus is kinda like that, where you pay $30-50 a year and get games each month ontop of that service, accept you have to download the whole game.

The failure of OnLive was that they tried to sell you a game on a per-title basis. The whole point of a cloud based streaming system is that you don't need to install or download the whole game.

If Sony could offer thousands of PS1, PS2, PS3, Vita, and even PS4 games for a cheap Netflix like subscription, this would be a killer app.

This was exactly the way that MSFT was heading (and hopefully still is) before the "small amount of internet crybabies" in conjunction with bad messaging forced them to largely change most of their online plans.

Not exactly. They were moving to a steam for consoles model before people complained and got it changed.Personally I would have vastly preferred that system, as I have no need of discs, but they weren't going for a full on streaming model.

Kyle Orland wroteGaikai launched in 2008 as a platform to deliver Web-based streaming demos of high-end PC games that ran on many retailer websites. Sony spent $380 million to scoop up the company last year and has thus far used the underlying technology to power the surprisingly usable Remote Play functionality between the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita (as well as PS Vita TV streaming in Japan).

That's quite a speculative assertion don't you think? Remote Play has been available predating Gaikai's existence.

I have a tv stand big enough for a 70" TV, and I don't have room for more than 2 consoles in it. I doubt the average person has a stand this big. On lower shelf it has my HTPC, AVR, and PS3. The middle shelf has a large center speaker flanked by my XBO, DVR, cable modem/router. Top of stand where tv would go (have a projector) has the Kinect and that's it. Might not be so bad if consoles all used a standard power connector and Component or s-video (pre-HD consoles) and the only thing you had to switch was the console, but since they're all different, as you said, it's a switching nightmare. I've got the space to plug them in on my receiver, but not the shelf space and enough power sockets and i'm not a fan of daisy-chaining power bars.

It would be really nice to be able to replay FF VII, for instance.

I'd be curious what kind of hardware will back this service.

The problem here is that Sony never said that they were going to let you stream PS3 games through this service. They were asked in an interview if this could be a way to get backwards compatibility for PS3 titles, and Sony responded that its possible and they would look into it. There was nothing more to this conversation. It was not a heavily advertised feature like Kyle tries to make it out to be. It was discussed a lot on the internet (by tech and game sites, not by Sony), but its all been purely speculation. What this technology is intended for is to let you play downloadable PS4 titles (maybe demos?) immediately instead of waiting hours.

Kyle Orland wroteGaikai launched in 2008 as a platform to deliver Web-based streaming demos of high-end PC games that ran on many retailer websites. Sony spent $380 million to scoop up the company last year and has thus far used the underlying technology to power the surprisingly usable Remote Play functionality between the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita (as well as PS Vita TV streaming in Japan).

That's quite a speculative assertion don't you think? Remote Play has been available predating Gaikai's existence.

Does the PS3 explode into flames if it enters the same house as a PS4?

I find this defense strangely divorced from logic. What you're saying, essentially, is that the thing that you yourself label as a "killer feature" is no different than picking up a second-hand PS3 and buying those games? That way you don't even have to worry about latency, slow internet (or no internet). So why is this a "killer feature"?

Because, like everybody else, you want to simplify your life-- meaning being able to play those old games on the same box you play your new games on. So yes, being asked to pay for those same games is a hassle. The point being that it would be nice if Sony let you mail in your disc or something, and gave you access to the game automatically that way, or had some way of ensuring that people didn't have to pay twice.

Because while yes, a person with a PS3 can plug it in, the reality of the situation is that you can buy (or borrow) a PS3 as well, and play those same games you missed that way. So both you and the people who don't want to buy their games again want to have the convenience of playing all their games on the same box.

I just picked up a copy of Krazy Ivan for Playstation 1 at the local play and trade...I will be playing this on my fat ps3 later, this is why i am keeping the old consle as to not have to buy (actually rent) the older titles to only have the service be shut down in a few years to lose them again.

When are people finally going to realize that "Clouds" can and will -evaporate-

Kyle Orland wroteGaikai launched in 2008 as a platform to deliver Web-based streaming demos of high-end PC games that ran on many retailer websites. Sony spent $380 million to scoop up the company last year and has thus far used the underlying technology to power the surprisingly usable Remote Play functionality between the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita (as well as PS Vita TV streaming in Japan).

That's quite a speculative assertion don't you think? Remote Play has been available predating Gaikai's existence.

It was redone this generation to use Gaikai.

LOL, and you know this how...? Do you work on the PS4 firmware team?

You haven't been paying attention, have you? Sony themselves have said this, many times, and it's been written about a ton in the tech and gaming press. This isn't some industry secret. Remote play as it exists on PSV and PS4 has been completely rebuilt from the ground up in terms of both hardware and software from when it was on PSP and PS3. The new system pretty much works very, very well, whereas the old one was shit.

Kyle Orland wroteGaikai launched in 2008 as a platform to deliver Web-based streaming demos of high-end PC games that ran on many retailer websites. Sony spent $380 million to scoop up the company last year and has thus far used the underlying technology to power the surprisingly usable Remote Play functionality between the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita (as well as PS Vita TV streaming in Japan).

That's quite a speculative assertion don't you think? Remote Play has been available predating Gaikai's existence.

Basically, pay small subscription and have access to a massive back catalog of games. The Playstation Plus is kinda like that, where you pay $30-50 a year and get games each month ontop of that service, accept you have to download the whole game.

The failure of OnLive was that they tried to sell you a game on a per-title basis. The whole point of a cloud based streaming system is that you don't need to install or download the whole game.

If Sony could offer thousands of PS1, PS2, PS3, Vita, and even PS4 games for a cheap Netflix like subscription, this would be a killer app.

This was exactly the way that MSFT was heading (and hopefully still is) before the "small amount of internet crybabies" in conjunction with bad messaging forced them to largely change most of their online plans.

No it wasn't at all. MS was heading towards a Steam like model where all the games you own are tied to account regardless if they were on disc or DD. They would have still required local downloads and installs.

Basically, pay small subscription and have access to a massive back catalog of games. The Playstation Plus is kinda like that, where you pay $30-50 a year and get games each month ontop of that service, accept you have to download the whole game.

The failure of OnLive was that they tried to sell you a game on a per-title basis. The whole point of a cloud based streaming system is that you don't need to install or download the whole game.

If Sony could offer thousands of PS1, PS2, PS3, Vita, and even PS4 games for a cheap Netflix like subscription, this would be a killer app.

This was exactly the way that MSFT was heading (and hopefully still is) before the "small amount of internet crybabies" in conjunction with bad messaging forced them to largely change most of their online plans.

Not exactly. They were moving to a steam for consoles model before people complained and got it changed.Personally I would have vastly preferred that system, as I have no need of discs, but they weren't going for a full on streaming model.

Basically, pay small subscription and have access to a massive back catalog of games. The Playstation Plus is kinda like that, where you pay $30-50 a year and get games each month ontop of that service, accept you have to download the whole game.

The failure of OnLive was that they tried to sell you a game on a per-title basis. The whole point of a cloud based streaming system is that you don't need to install or download the whole game.

If Sony could offer thousands of PS1, PS2, PS3, Vita, and even PS4 games for a cheap Netflix like subscription, this would be a killer app.

This was exactly the way that MSFT was heading (and hopefully still is) before the "small amount of internet crybabies" in conjunction with bad messaging forced them to largely change most of their online plans.

Not exactly. They were moving to a steam for consoles model before people complained and got it changed.Personally I would have vastly preferred that system, as I have no need of discs, but they weren't going for a full on streaming model.